PLASTICPEDIA: WHY PLASTICS ARE IMMORTAL?

Plastic is non – biodegradable material and is used in our everyday life. It is commonly used in
electrical and electronics, industrial machinery, for consumer products and to produce packaging
because they are durable and indestructible. Plastic products are hard to decompose because of its
structure and properties, did you know a plastic bottle would take 450 years to decompose, well
that is shocking. Now I wonder what makes plastic immortal. Seat belts on and let us start our
journey to the world of plastic.
So, let us have a simple experiment in comparison of burning plastic and paper. As you observed
plastic burns slowly than paper meaning they fail to decompose and are instead broken down into
smaller and smaller particles by the sun’s UV rays without changing into simpler compounds.
These fragments are called microplastics.
Since it is a synthetic material meaning it does not exist in nature there will be no naturally
occurring organism such as bacteria can break down the chemical bonds in plastic bags effectively.
The longer the chain the stronger the polyethylene that is why the decomposition is slow. Plastic
pollution is not only affecting our waters and marine life, but also the human food chain and our
overall health. We should reduce, reuse, recycle plastic so that we can save our mother nature and
we can make better use of the immortality of plastics.
REFERENCE:
1. Natalie Wolchover, “Why doesn’t plastic biodegradable?”, Live Science, https://www-
livescience-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.livescience.com/amp/33085-petroleum-
derived-plastic-non-
biodegradable.html?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D
%3D&fbclid=IwAR2V-
NcKEZX9L8Edn2_HTJHC7TRFdxAgMYPoqM5BclskufEkrTgBKRgPFAc#aoh=16238
126966969&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%2
4s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.livescience.com%2F33085-petroleum-derived-
plastic-non-biodegradable.html

2. Joshua Davis, “How Long Does It Take for Plastic to Decompose?”, Chariot Energy,
February 10, 2021, https://chariotenergy.com/blog/how-long-until-plastic-
decomposes/?fbclid=IwAR0d2RkLDvVemWiwhsoMYNba6n0rOt4Rn1rK5T0y8i9K6Fp
eoglCpqr28Cw

3. “What are microplastics?”, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accesses

on 2015, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html